Jewish members of Britain's Labour Party are increasingly opposing the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and the party's inadequate steps to address anti-Semitism in its ranks.
Jewish MP Ian Austin said in a weekend interview to Radio 4 that Corbyn was not fit to lead the party and should resign.
According to Austin, Corbyn had always been on the "extreme fringes" of the party and defended "all sorts of extremists," including – in some cases – "anti-Semites."
Austin said he had grown up listening to his father's stories about escaping the Holocaust and how his mother and sisters were murdered in the Treblinka death camp. Austin said those stories had prompted him to join Labour as a youth, "determined to fight racism."
The MP said he was "shocked" that the party that had a proud tradition of fighting racism had caused such "huge offense and distress" to Britain's Jewish community.
Austin told the interviewer he was "ashamed" of the current state of the Labour Party.
Both Austin and another Jewish Labour MP, Margaret Hodge – who has also publicly denigrated Corbyn as an anti-Semite – are under the threat of disciplinary action from the party.
Recently, Hodge has been the target of anti-Semitic attacks on social media from supporters of Corbyn. These attacks are included in the 252 new complaints about anti-Semitic comments that members of the Jewish faction in the Labour Party have submitted to the party leadership for action.
Meanwhile, Corbyn is receiving support from far-left writer David Rosenberg, who accused Hodge of "cynically" exploiting the fact that she had relatives who had survived the Holocaust to promote her own standing as a spokeswoman on the issue of anti-Semitism.
Last week, three British Jewish newspapers said on Wednesday that there would be an "existential threat to Jewish life in this country" if Labour won power from the ruling Conservative Party.
The Jewish Chronicle, Jewish News and Jewish Telegraph said in a joint editorial, titled "United We Stand," that the Labour Party had shown a tolerance of anti-Semitism since Corbyn was elected leader of the party in 2015.
"The party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel," the editorial said.
